26 May 2016

DISCLAIMER: I don’t guarantee that I translate 100%
correct....So helping hand is welcome!

The Translator:

Yukkuri Oniisan

The Editor:

So-Chintzy

Chapter
5. Yuuji, Changing Job from “Magician of the Forest” into “Pioneer”

Part
6. Yuuji, Hearing the Knowledge Request from the Peddler Kevin

「One million…… No, so it costs one gold coin?……」(Yuuji)

「Yes, that’s right.
However, if I can produce goods using Yuuji-san’s knowledge, then I believe I
could obtain it again. Of course, I will split half of the profits with
Yuuji-san.」(Kevin)

「Y, yeah…… That’s right,
right?……」(Yuuji)

Yuji looked overwhelmed by the heaviness of Kevin’s
words. As a person who never entered society, this might be something inevitable
for Yuuji. Even though he has a bank account with savings exceeding one gold
coin.

「It seems that this has caused
you to feel a bit nervous, so let’s have a talk about this world tomorrow. Now,
let’s have a talk about the knowledge that I request. It wouldn’t be good if
Yuuji-san couldn’t get peace of mind.」(Kevin)

「I-I understand……」(Yuuji)

Or rather, Yuuji had became relatively stiff.

In this exchange of goods and the information about
this world, Yuuji would provide knowledge in return.

Then Kevin would produce it, and they will share the
profits after being sold on the market.

In other words, the level of knowledge that Kevin wants
to talk about after this and what Yuuji needed to taught. It’s not an
exaggeration to say that this will decide Yuuji’s future.

So it couldn’t be helped if Yuuji was nervous.

「Yuuji-san, it’s
alright, no need to be that tense. Although this is an opportunity, I wouldn’t
request something big in the beginning. For now, please just hear this with a
more calmer feeling.」(Kevin)

“Yeah”, Yuuji could only throw out a vague reply. His
nervousness didn’t melt.

「Yuuji-san. This is
something that I wished as a peddler, and had thought when I sold things from
village to village…… Preserved food. Do you know the way to make them?」(Kevin)

「Preserved food? Like
the hard bread or jerky meat?」(Yuuji)

「Yes, that’s right. Things
that can be carried will be best, but as long as it can be preserved for a long
time, then even things that cannot be carried will not be a problem. Something
that not only can be sold to merchants like me or adventurers like them, but can
be sold to the villages in the winter as well.」(Kevin)

Since the request was something relatively familiar to
his knowledge, Yuuji felt a bit relieved.

「Preserved food…… There
are some that come to mind……」(Yuuji)

「Oh! Oh! Is
that true!?」(Kevin)

Hearing Yuuji’s words, Kevin showed a smile on his
face. He then continued his words.

「How should I say this,
as a someone with a merchant occupation, of course I had to eat a lot of
preserved food. So I had become bored by it. Ah that’s right, I will inform
Yuuji-san about the preserved food that I had previously bought in Premie and
the surrounding villages! Since I will hand it over little by little, please
tell me if Yuuji-san knows something! Ah, that’s right, I will also give
papers, pen and ink. I will be grateful if Yuuji-san could write down the
production method if Yuuji-san knows about it.」(Kevin)

Although Yuuji was surprised by Kevin who spoek
without hesitation, he received the paper, pen, and ink that Kevin handed over
to him.

After handing over the goods, Kevin immediately spread
a carpet on the ground, placed preserved foods atop of it and began explaining.

「First is this. The hard
baked bread that I had given to Yuuji-san before. This is the staple food for
merchants and travelers. At any rate, this is tough to bite into. Although it
will be okay if you’re only eating this once or twice, but if it continues
beyond three times then the jaw could break. This is the top reason peddlers would,
since in the first place, people with weak teeth couldn’t even eat the hard
bread.」(Kevin)

Although Kevin was smiling,
there a hateful glint in his eyes while he glared at the hard bread. He really
is a handy person.

「Really? That is the reason why a peddler would choose to retire? ……」(Yuuji)

「No, that’s only a joke.」(Kevin)

Yuuji was left his with jaw hanging
opened and a stupid look on his face. He never imagined that Kevin would make a
joke at a time like this.

「Then, there’s this jerky. This is not only hard, but salty, too. If there is
a water source available, then it could be boiled into a soup in a pan, but it is
not that tasty. If there is no water source, then this bare luxury couldn’t even
be enjoyed. Also, this would become harder over time, too.」(Kevin)

While saying this, Kevin
handed over the jerky that Yuuji had tasted before. As always, Kevin’s eyes
glared at the jerky, looking as if he could throw it on the ground at any time.

「I-Is that so?」(Yuuji)

Yuuji was a bit nervous due to
Kevin’s menacing look. He wondered if this was Kevin’s true nature. However,
food is one of the three big necessities. A peddler is a living creature with a
cursed fate of being followed by unappetizing preserved foods no matter where
they went.

「This is something that Yuuji-san might see for the first time. Since I will
give it to you, please try to taste it properly later. This is dried fish.
After being caught from a far away sea, it was then left to dry, becoming desiccated
and harder over time until it ended up like this. Near the sea, it could be consumed
deliciously in its fresh state. This is that same sea produce, dried scallop.
This can be used to produce a delicious soup, however if there is no water,
then it isn’t that useful. Also, this is expensive. Besides, if we went to a
place near a water source, then all preserved foods would not be a problem……」(Kevin)

“Y-yeah”, Yuuji answered in
weak voice. It seems that Yuuji had become an answering machine.

「Then, next is vegetables in salt, or pickles. Just like meat jerky, if it is
stored for a long period of time, it would become saltier and more sour. What
if there is no water source nearby? The saltiness and sourness would remain in
the mouth for a long time. The lightly seasoned ones or the newly pickled ones taste
alright, though. But then it would lose it preserving function. It’s the worst.」(Kevin)

Kevin gradually seems to be
carried away in his vigor. Maybe because
he had many dreadful experiences from real life?

「Then, these are various preserved foods. Jam made by boiling the juice of
all sorts of fruits and nuts, and honey, too. These have delicious tastes so they’re
not that bad, but they can’t fill the stomach. Furthermore, both the jam or the
honey would attract insects. Normally, these would be stored in an earthenware
pot with a wooden lid, but if it breaks while being carried…… It would become a
big mess……」(Kevin)

Kevin began to talk about past
failures with a distant look.

「Lastly…… Yuuji-san, please hold your nose tightly. Then, please step back a
little bit. Yes, I think it will be okay like this. Here we go……」(Kevin)

Kevin put a small wooden flask
on the ground, and warned Yuuji, with serious expression. Yuuji stepped back
and held his nose tight.

After putting the small cask
as far as possible, Kevin stretched his hand as far as he could and puled off the cask’s wooden lid.

*whoosh*

With a small sound, the
surroundings were enveloped by an offensive smell.

*woof*woof*woof*!

Maybe because she sniffed the reeking
stench, Kotarou rushed out from the house from the opened dog-door. But she was
only standing in the entrance way while making sure that she wasn’t near it at
all. Her endless barking was as if she was complaining,

“What is that thing? It has such an unpleasant
smell!” (Kotarou)

The smell was so bad that it
even made his eyes well up intears’ Yuuji turned his attention back to the
small wooden cask.

Hazily, he could see that it
was a fish pickled inside some liquid.

「Kevin-san, what is that…?... It has a really strong smell……」(Yuuji)

「This is also a preserved food. Pickled fish. It stinks. Nothing but stink.
The preserved food around this area, is generally like this. Yuuji-san, do you
now understand? A peddler’s suffering? But you know, even so we keep peddling,
while having disgusting meals. It is also for our livelihood, but the villagers
would meet with difficulties if we were not there. Especially the villages in
this area, as they would immediately disappear if we didn’t trade with them. We
peddle while holding this pride. But, you see, you see…… Shouldn’t we be able
to have just a bit more delicious breakfast, right?! We can wish for it,
right?!」(Kevin)

「Y-Yeah……」(Kevin)

While pinching his nose and
also covering his mouth, Yuuji gave a response to Kevin with teary eyes. It wasn’t
like Yuuji couldn’t understand what Kevin wanted to say, but Yuuji could only think
about one thing: please dispose of that cask right here right now.

「Why preserved food was the first request wasn’t just because of this
reason…… Even if we sold a new preserved food, the merchant firm or a rival peddler
won’t become our competitors. Rather, they can become our allies. Well, although
they might offer a friendly hand to study the manufacturing method. Also, after
thinking how and where it’s produced, how many can be produced, and at what
price it can be sold, the people who manufacture the current preserved foods
also won’t become our competitor. We can ask them to make the new goods, or we
can sell the new goods in limited amount as high class preserved foods. This is
the general plan that I had come up with.」(Kevin)

「Ah…… Yes…… By the way, quickly, that……」(Yuuji)

Because of the bad smell’s
damage to Yuuji’s head, Kevin’s words didn’t really register in his mind. Then,
Yuujim who was straining his voice to ask Kevin to just dispose that wooden
cask, heard the words of despair.

「Ah, Yuuji-san, please have a taste of this too.」(Kevin)

Yuuji had become frozen when
he heard the death sentence proclaimed by Kevin.

There were only the sounds of
Kotarou barking resonating in his surroundings.

Teach Kevin about the
preserved foods that don’t exist in this world.

This was the knowledge that
Kevin decided to receive at the start, but he also decided the dinner of
despair.

Limited to Yuuji, that is.

Author Note: The cask didn’t
really produce a sound when opened. It’s just a figure of speech.

Editor Note: Pickles taste better
preserved in soy sauce & salt in my opinion. Is that cask full of surströmming? It’s probably a bad idea to suggest
kusaya to Kevin, too lol. He should introduce canning first or something lol.

Translator Note: Swedish eat
weird things… As a former Hiki, I think Yuuji would teach Kevin how to produce Instant Noddle.

On the other hand, I am going to transfer to another hospital at the end of this month. The hospital is located at more rural provincial area. I don't know how busy I will be, but I will try to do my best in keeping translating things....

While I do agree that surströmming is disgusting(I'm swedish and just about no one eats that crap even if it's available. I've yet to see a youth in my life that would even get close to it, saying that we eat weird things because a minority of the minorities eat something like that occasionally is pretty weird), this is NOT surströmming or anything close if it's pickled. It's pickled herring, we call it inlagd sill over here, it's something we eat for events like easter and christmas and it's actually really tasty(when it's pretty fresh), and trust me I don't even like fish at all. It doesn't have any weird taste nor smell. The reason it has those things here is because the pickled fish is OLD and has turned pungent due to that, it's pickled stuff made for preservation, the method might also be bad. I'm actually wondering if the author was thinking "surströmming" but mistook it as pickled fish even though it's not.

What you're thinking of, surströmming, is FERMENTED herring, it's controlled rotting, obviously it would smell bad. Don't ask me why someone would do that though. I really wish the translator and editor would look into stuff before writing stuff like that. No, almost no one eat that "weird" stuff, look to other countries if you want to see some disgusting shit people eat regularly.

Usually we eat stuff like chicken, sausage, beef/other kinds of meat, meatballs, pasta, bolognese or other pasta sauces, fish of different kinds(not fermented or pickled), rice, bread, potatoes etc... Well, of course that's just in general, there's a lot you can make, but using weird ingredients is really rare... Stuff like liver or other organs are really rare that we eat unless it's mixed into stuff like sausage and then we don't even know. Then there's some peculiar dishes like blodpudding(black pudding) made with swine blood as a main ingredient, it's actually somewhat tasty with lingonberry jam, though I'm not too fond of it and I last ate it several years ago, it doesn't taste bad even if you've never eaten it before, it's not an offensive taste but might feel disgusting for some people to eat since it's made with swine blood, I know that I'm not that comfortable with that part either.

Applesauce is certainly the way to go. It tastes great and usually does not smell bad. It can be made a variety of ways and the preferred recipe varies between cultures. Not to mention most of them can be made in the average person's home kitchen. It lasts long to apparently when unopened it can last up to two years at room temperature including home made recipes if sealed properly. Once opened the applesauce should be able to remain good for 10 days.

When he opened that barrel, I was sure as hell that it would be surströmming(fermented herring), because japanese novels/manga/anime are notorious for making fun of that dish due to the smell. Turned out it was pickled fish... That's also popular in sweden for times like christmas and easter, it's actually pretty tasty with pickled herring. However, that's fresh stuff, don't know about old stuff like that :P

「Ah, Yuuji-san, please have a taste of this too.」(Kevin)Yuuji had become frozen when he heard the death sentence proclaimed by Kevin.There were only the sounds of Kotarou barking resonating in his surroundings.